Roman Army

The Roman Army was a military organization employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire as part of the Roman military. Its main infantry constituent for much of its history was the Roman legion; (for a catalogue of individual legions, dates and deployments, see List of Roman legions). The army in the late Roman Empire consisted of about 375,000 men, organized hierarchically. The main Roman soldiers in the Empire were the legionaries. There were other soldiers in the army known as the auxilia. Auxilia were non-citizens recruited mostly from the provinces. They were paid less than legionaries but at the end of their service they were granted Roman citizenship (see Roman auxiliaries). Despite the fact that the Roman Navy controlled the Mediterranean, it never operated as an entity independent from the Roman Army.

The army was enmeshed with Roman political life. Commanders of legions, or Legatus Legionis were appointed by the emperor and the tribunes and other senior officers were senate appointments. Centurions, the professional soldiers commanding units of 80-100 men, were often promoted from the ranks by the emperor or other influential political figures.

The Roman army conquered the regions of modern-day Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Southern Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, northwest Saudi Arabia, Lower Egypt, northern Libya, northern Algeria, northern Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, France, England, Wales, Belgium and Monaco. The Roman army was later succeeded by the Byzantine army, which served under the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)

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